Buckler bucks the cold spell as Cushuish battles home at local track

Local trainer Bob Buckler had been at the top of the dreaded cold list in the Racing Post Signposts feature for as long as he could remember, but that unwanted spell came to an end after Cushuish landed the 3m novices handicap hurdle at Taunton.

The Bridgwater-based trainer had not enjoyed success since the summer of 2018, a period stretching back 570 days, but he broke the sequence when Sean Houlihan forced his bottomweight home at the expense of favourite Easyrun De Vassy.

The 17-2 chance was always near the lead and was not for passing on the run-in despite the late flourish of the second.